In this post, we have included some practical advice for teachers and therapists who use interactive exercises on the interactive floor during classes or therapeutic sessions with their students.
General tips for using the Happy Stones applications during play on an interactive floor
When working on an interactive floor with both neurotypical children and those with special educational needs, it is always worth approaching the child (or group of students) individually, paying attention to the following aspects of working on an interactive floor:
- Adjust the number of participants in the game to the individual needs of the child. Most of the games proposed in the Happy Stones collection can be conveniently carried out with one child or a group of up to three people. By assigning children different roles in the game, assigning specific colours to players in the games, or introducing your own rules of play, you can increase the accessibility of the game for a larger group.
- You can adjust the sound volume in the application depending on your needs.
- Familiarize yourself with the applications before using them to learn about their goals, understand the game logic, adjust the application and its level to the users, and maximize their didactic value during sessions. In Happy Stones you may select from two or three levels in each game.
- During games on the interactive floor, encourage your child to express their opinion and comment on what they see and do by asking guiding questions (both open and closed).
- If your child is reluctant to move on the floor, you can include a prop, a toy, in the exercises that the child will touch the elements on the boards with, instead of directly with their hand or foot. In addition, in this way, any mistake in the exercise will not be directly related to themselves, but to the toy.
- Recommendations for conducting therapeutic exercises with children can also be applied to exercises using applications on the interactive floor (e.g. repeating difficult material in subsequent classes, gradually increasing the level of difficulty of the exercise, playing together with the child, changing roles in the exercise, not giving players the solutions, introducing relaxation games or favourites, etc.).
- Children usually express their needs and emotions expressively while playing on the interactive floor, and this is good because undisturbed expression helps them get to know themselves better and enables them to observe other children in a similar situation.
Remember that exercises on the interactive floor are supposed to be primarily fun for the child. Unforced, giving them a sense of action, control, freedom of action, the opportunity to experiment, and consequently - strengthening their sense of value.
Motioncube.io Team
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